bob dole, one of the most revered figures. he's almost literally on his death bed a week or two ago. who commoned the courage to come to the senate to be the conscious on something he championed in 1990. this was senator bob dole, a republican. president george h. bush, republican. dick thorneberg, republican. this was a republican-sponsored idea. it won huge bipartisan support. and now in 37 other republicans seen ghosts really tied up the senate and dishonored, i think, senator dole's tradition and john mccain's as well. >> what does this say about the republican party and their lack of concern for veterans? which they always tell everybody they are so concerned about? >> i think what it says is that they are more deeply committed to their strategy of paranoia about the role of government than they are to supporting our men and women in uniform. what they have done today is laid their cards on the table. they will use each and every opportunity to keep their base paranoid, angry, in an effort to undermine our democracy. i be